Idioms about Family: A family is a place of comfort and where every member staying at the house feels safe and protected. English can be a highly complex language, but that is the language by which we communicate, be it idioms for poor families or the wealthy, and it’s surprising how we have different idioms about different family relationships around us.
Idioms help elevate the conversation; idioms about family like idioms for father and daughter or idioms for parents have a huge list. We have thus made a shortlist of few commonly used expressions to help you have a great time ahead with your family.
Enrich your Vocabulary by practicing the English Idioms that are commonly used in everyday conversations and understand their actual meaning.
Name of Family Idioms
List of Idioms About Family
- Father figure
- Flesh and blood
- Accident of birth
- Small fry
- Big brother
- Family man
- The Black sheep
- Run in the blood
- Like father like son
- Men make house women make home
- Match made in heaven
- Sleep like a baby
- Born with a silver spoon
- Come hell or high water
- Baby boomer
- A mother hen
- Mother’s milk
- My old man or My old lady
- Kith and kin
- Pop the question
- Boys will be boys
- Child’s play
- The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
- A chip off the old block
- Spitting image
- Bad blood
- Following your footsteps
- Confirmed bachelor
- East or west, home is the best
- Home is where the heart is
- Alpha mom
- Baby brain
- Quality time
- Helicopter parenting
- Up the duff
- To keep mum
- Throw the baby out of the bathwater
- Blue blood
- Accident of birth
- Bob’s your uncle
- Born out of wedlock
- Spare the rod and spoil the child
Meaning And Examples Of Few Commonly Used Idioms About Family
Father figure
Meaning: Father in a family is the head and support of a family. If someone is called a father figure, it means that person can make you feel safe with help and advice, just like your father.
Example: I have seen Uncle Tim since I was a child; he is a father figure.
Flesh and blood
Meaning: flesh and blood mean someone who has feelings, emotions, and weakness as a human being, not a machine.
Example: he was, after all, my flesh and blood. How can I see him going to jail?
Accident of birth
Meaning: any property or qualities which a person enjoys because of being born in a particular family probably doesn’t deserve it.
Example: he travels in a Porsche, not to mention it is a mere accident of birth.
Small fry
Meaning: small fry is depicted to people or things that are not considered necessary; it is of no use anymore.
Example: we have kept three interns for extra work but didn’t work as a small fry.
Big brother
Meaning: the role of big brother is said to someone who has the ultimate authority for ruling power on someone. that person can control and limit the freedom for has the right to restrict the freedom of people through dictatorship
Example: the big brother says that we have to arrive there within an hour or be jobless.
Family man
Meaning: family man is said to be a person who can balance professional and personal life. It mainly depicts a person who loves to be at home to spend time with family.
Example: John is the type of family man every wife needs.
The Black sheep
Meaning: a black sheep is said to have different interests or act differently from the other family members or group.
Example: everyone in a family has been settled by 25, but Rachel is 30 and seems to be the only black sheep here.
Run in the blood
Meaning: any activity characteristics or other feature passed on to generation by generation in a particular family mostly means traits.
Example: your family has always been into a trading business. You are no exception; it runs in your blood.
Like father like son
Meaning: a person who has the same manners or characteristics as his father. You can also say it to the person who wants to follow the same footsteps or shares the same ideas as his father.
Example: Rahul decided to apply for the post of chief executive just like a father-like son.
Men make house women make a home.
Meaning: men make houses and women make the home can be controversial but refers to a man who goes out to earn money and makes the house where the woman stays at home and takes care of the house in a good way.
Example: Rachel balances a happy professional life and a house where her husband does anything, rightly said that men make houses while women make a home.
Match made in heaven.
Meaning: refers to two people of opposite gender mostly who are perfectly suited and compatible with each other. The partners bonding makes people say that it’s a match made in heaven.
Example: my sister has been the happiest Rahul in the last few days. It’s a match made in heaven.
Sleep like a baby
Meaning: sleeping like a baby means sleeping very peacefully without worrying about getting up early the next day with a work headache. It means to be in peace, just like a tiny baby.
Example: you have worked so hard today, and it’s a week of the following week; you will sleep like a baby today.
Born with a silver spoon.
Meaning: being born with a silver spoon means being held in a wealthy family with lots of wealth and luxury is an advantage that ordinary people don’t have. It can also be said to children who are spoiled as their parents give them everything they want.
Example: the way she wastes all the money may fool you as if she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
Come hell or high water.
Meaning: it refers to you being solid and adamant no matter what big problems come in someone’s life or the family. You can also refer to someone sticking to their thoughts or objectives even after criticisms and obstacles.
Example: I will stand on my point, come hell or high water. I don’t care if I lose the job.
Baby boomer
Meaning: baby boomer refers to children born after World War II during the year of 1960s.
Example: The Last of the baby boomers is almost the same age as my father.
A mother hen
Meaning: a person who interfaces into people’s lives mostly but for good intentions like someone who needs help, guidance for food, or care. A person who is very fussy and always up to work and to look after other people.
Example: Shila is always buying extra groceries. She is a mother hen for a lot of children.
Mother’s milk
Meaning: an object or a person is an extreme necessity. It is depicted as something without which a particular activity cannot be finished or held.
Example: your script was like mother’s milk for a show today; it wouldn’t have been the same without you.
My old man or my old lady
Meaning: an old man or lady is referred to as a father, or someone’s husband can also refer to someone’s mother or wife, which means someone of the family who is very close to them or is a partner.
Example: I would love to go and get a coffee with you, but I have plans with my old man today.
Kith and kin
Meaning: kith and kin generally mean someone’s very close friends for relatives who are closely tied, associated with family.
Example: at my birthday party my mother made sure to invite all her kith and kins to understand why I should get married soon.
Pop the question
Meaning: to pop the question in a general word means to propose the idea of marriage to the partner or to that person’s family member to ask for consent in marriage.
Example: we have been dating for almost seven years now. I keep wondering when my boyfriend will pop the question.
Boys will be boys
Meaning: boys will be boys is referred to the type of behavior being mischievous, aggressive, and very noisy. This type of behavior trait is most common in boys and shows a kind of behavior expectation.
Example: it was just a conversation about your religious views, but they had to get into a fight with boys.
Child’s play
Meaning: child’s play refers to any task or activity that is very easy for anyone, especially if compared to something more complex or has challenges than others.
Example: oh, is this the assignment we have to do? It’s a child’s play for me.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Meaning: This identical phrase is used when you notice a child with looks, traits, and primarily identical qualities to their parents.
Example: her son is very interested in hip hop dance style proving, that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
A chip off the old block
Meaning: Bina chip off the old block means having similar characteristic behavior or personality like their parents, which can be positive or negative.
Example: he is the same, just like his sister; he is a chip off the old block, very down-to-earth and soft-spoken.
Spitting image
Meaning: I think, specifically, a person who looks almost similar or identical can be referred to in a family as a child who looks remarkably the same as one of the parents.
Example: look at those brown eyes and curly hairs; it’s very identical that he is the spitting image of his father.
Bad blood
Meaning: being off bad blood means someone who is very unfriendly and is always angry or rude to others for no reason
Example: don’t go to the store in the corner of the owner has bad blood; you will lose your temper.
Following your footsteps
Meaning: to follow someone with a specific career or choice and do the same thing. Is referred to in a family as a child who does the same thing as their parents
Example: she followed the footsteps of her father and became a successful engineer.
Confirmed bachelor
Meaning: a confirmed bachelor is a person who never wants to marry and be a part of family life; it can either be a woman or a man.
Example: he keeps on roaming in different cities and countries; he is a confirmed bachelor as he never likes to stay at home.
East or west, home is the best.
Meaning: the idiom East or west home is the best means no matter wherever you travel or expensive places. We went to a holiday home. It is a place of trust which is safe. There is no place that can be safe are comfortably like home.
Example: I have been to different countries, and I have almost started my teen life in Europe, but east or West home is the best.
Home is where the heart is
Meaning: it means that no matter where you are with your loved ones or family members, you feel safe and feel at home despite being in a new place. Aur can also be referred to as a place that is not very comfortable but is safe being with your loved one.
Example: I have never felt like an outsider in my fiance’s house home is where the heart is.
Alpha mom
Meaning: being Alpha mum is said to be a mother who prioritizes her work life very well and takes care of her family with almost the same efficiency.
Example: Neeta is the perfect example of an alpha mom, she is the owner of a private farm, but she also takes care of a two-year-old daughter
Baby brain
Meaning: the baby brain is subjected to you being confused or forgetting things due to lack of rest or sleep. Mostly said to someone who does wrong activities for misplaces things.
Example: my sister kept the ice tray in the micro-oven instead fridge; it must be a baby brain.
Quality time
Meaning: means to spend enough time with your loved ones and give them attention. Quality time means to spend your time in an accessible manner, excluding the work life.
Example: my husband loves to spend some quality time with the children every weekend.
Helicopter parenting
Meaning: helicopter parenting refers to highly attentive parents and takes part in every activity their child does. It means to someone who doesn’t allow any child’s freedom or space of privacy.
Example: don’t be a helicopter parent; your daughter is 25, and she then goes out to stay in a different place on her own.
Up the duff
Meaning: being after the death of means to be pregnant or with the child or, in other words, to carry a child in the mother’s Womb.
Example: you just graduated from college. I can’t believe you are updated if already now.
To keep mum
Meaning: to keep mum means to seal your mouth or keep quiet; it can also be said to make someone stay calm and not expose anything in front of others.
Example: tell your assistant to keep mum I don’t want all the plans to go in flowing water.
Throw the baby out of the bathwater
Meaning: throwing the baby out of the bathwater means accidentally through helpful something or good while discarding the bad or things without usefulness.
Example: did you just throw the newly bought umbrella? Don’t throw the baby out of the bathwater like that.
Blue blood
Meaning: Being Blue blood means someone a lot or has much ancestral wealth and fame, which makes them keep going in recent times. It can also be said to be someone superior to the other parts of society.
Example: you are a blue blood person, how can you understand the struggle of getting a job in the public sector for ordinary people.
Accident of birth
Meaning: inheritance of property and wealth has an advantage of belonging from a wealthy family. It mostly says someone who is not eligible to get the respect and wealth of being born in a wealthy family.
Example: he is going to London to study just by accident of birth; he does not qualify for this.
Bob’s your uncle
Meaning: bob’s your uncle who is used after finishing a straightforward task. It is used in place of its done, or there it is. It results from a specific job to do and as a result of easy and quick instructions.
Example: just a cup of hot water in the bowl, and bob’s your uncle! The noodles are done.
Born out of wedlock.
Meaning: a child who is born before marriage mainly can be used for someone who has no plans of marriage with their partner but has become parents to their children; those parents without marriage is called out of wedlock
Example: my parents married few months after I was born out of wedlock.
Spare the rod and spoil the child
Meaning: it means that children should be taught what is wrong and right if they are adamant and parents can use methods of hitting them. It means that unless children are there physically punished, they will not get lessons.
Example: your son has become very e-tourist spare the rod and spoil the child is appropriate for him.
